Short Interest in Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) Grows By 6.3%

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,030,000 shares, an increase of 6.3% from the March 31st total of 1,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 383,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.3 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CATY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp from $46.00 to $41.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $44.00 price objective on shares of Cathay General Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Cathay General Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 6th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on Cathay General Bancorp from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cathay General Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CATY. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in Cathay General Bancorp in the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Cathay General Bancorp by 16.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,559 shares of the bank’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cathay General Bancorp by 545.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cathay General Bancorp by 22,160.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,452 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 4,432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.01% of the company’s stock.

Cathay General Bancorp Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of CATY opened at $35.18 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.84. Cathay General Bancorp has a 52-week low of $27.24 and a 52-week high of $45.72. The company has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.12.

Cathay General Bancorp (NASDAQ:CATY) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.02 by ($0.04). Cathay General Bancorp had a return on equity of 13.02% and a net margin of 24.41%. The business had revenue of $339.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $188.85 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cathay General Bancorp will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

Cathay General Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 28th were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 27th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Cathay General Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 30.09%.

Cathay General Bancorp Company Profile

Cathay General Bancorp operates as the holding company for Cathay Bank that offers various commercial banking products and services to individuals, professionals, and small to medium-sized businesses in the United States. The company offers various deposit products, including passbook accounts, checking accounts, money market deposit accounts, certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, and public funds deposits.